Learning Anatomy for Art? Study this FIRST. 

I’m going to highly recommend my students watch this video before approaching anatomy week - this is a gem

*From someone who has done this journey during Covid: Nothing beats pencil mileage and nothing beats training your eyes* . I've done nearly 1000 figure drawings and the improvement was vast. You're going to suck for a while. Most people give up in frustration. Making tons of mistakes is part of the process. Just expect it and muscle through it. Nothing about special talent or other such nonsense. It's practice, practice, and practice. I still don't think I'm good, but I feel competent. The great thing about figure drawing is that all of your drawing skills will improve. There is nothing harder than (foreshortened) figure drawing and you will gain an intuitive sense of proportions and foreshortening, while training your eyes. I'd love to post some of my figure drawings (on IMGUR) but YT always takes my post down.

Newbie tips from newbie : After learning major parts of the body like in the video, you can start learning by remember the muscle part that you obsess or want to focus in your arts one by one like shoulder muscle or hamstring. It not only help you draw that part better but it will help your lighting skill in coloring parts too. The passion in your certain parts of the body will keep you up in learning.

I always felt like my figure drawing felt stiff even when the pose was dynamic. This video was very helpful in letting me know why that is. I never really took into consideration how much the joints come into play. In my classes they don't even talk about that. They really do have a huge affect on the anatomy inside of a particular pose.

Bro you saved me - literally just searched YT for a general anatomy crash course to give me something to work on, but I'm so glad I found this instead. It explains perfectly why learning general anatomy at this point (from non-artists at that) is a terrible idea. I've done figure drawing, sure, but I've got a long way to go before anything more complex than those big, basic shapes is useful or applicable to me. Now I can get off YT and back to the best place to learn, a canvas :)

I’m like a newborn baby when it comes to anatomy and all I can say is that tracing out the shapes onto people with a lot of expression with there pose helps a lot with understanding how-limbs bend and stuff!

omg this is perfect for me! every time I try to learn anatomy they always shove a super detailed muscly figure when I'm just trying to get the shape right. Its always super shaded muscles, but barely the basic shapes and just understanding the form. TYSM!!

"We are not doctors, we have bigger goals..."

That tip on the character taking a selfie is so great, because even if it wasn't in the "photo" they were taking, people do that stuff all the time. Moving and twisting like people really can see all of their body

I wanna watch this but the crispiness in your Ss and Ts and Ks and Gs is making me shiver 😭

Damn ergo you're amazing because,you are really invested in teaching us to be good in anatomy please keep on doing this.

A couple of days ago I started to learn anatomy with Proko's videos (struggling with pelvis :( ), your video really helped me as now I know what areas of anatomy worth more of my attention cuz before I watched this video I had thought that it would take about 10 years for me to learn all of these muscles and draw not an ugly-looking human

We don't want to be doctors, we have bigger goals in mind.... lmao

Great video! The little tidbit at the end showing your growth was inspiring. There's just one statement I feel I gotta call out :) 0:44 "There's honestly a lot of tutorials out there providing great information for these detailed components, but no one's really breaking down the overall parts." Proko's figure drawing series has been available for 8~9 years now on his channel. Although nowadays they seem to get lost in the shuffle of his anatomy and non-educational content, I still feel his videos on gesture, the bean, the robo bean, and mannequinization are excellent resources for how to construct a figure without getting into the weeds of anatomical knowledge. At the very least, they were a treasure trove of knowledge for me as a beginner getting into figure drawing all those years ago. The videos are so well-produced, with illustrative diagrams / animations and goofy, beginner-friendly explanations that aren't overly academic, that I couldn't believe they were available for free on RU-vid! I know I sound a lot like I'm shilling for the guy. But I really am just gushing about a teacher who had helped spurt my growth in drawing, and I really hope others can make their own strides in art by exploring older, but perennially useful, resources like Proko's.

Really great video Josh! This what I tell people who are starting out. Anatomy for artists really isn't as hard as appears, just need to learn those major muscle groups and then start designing them with good shapes. I wish someone told me that when I started.

I’ve been drawing my entire life. I’ve mastered the technique of drawing shapes, but I’ve always had trouble drawing people and their form. I was always daunted by the idea of learning anatomy, but all this time I knew how to do it, I knew it for a while, I just needed something to give a little push.

More like this please! This feels like the kind of gap in my knowledge that I dont understand fully, and its the basic stuff no one talks about.

This was really helpful :) The art at the end had my jaw to the floor, i was so impressed, my goal is to slowly get better until i can look back at how I started and inspire others to do the same

I would definitely take an in depth course of anatomy and figure drawing by ergojosh if he ever makes one

Definitely a helpful tip. I've been struggling to improve my drawings from independent practice for awhile, and I kept feeling overwhelmed because near as I can tell, most anatomy lessons for artists involve diagrams of underlying muscles and bones and a "Have at it!" Heck, the book I got on it was literally that; just images of poses accompanied by detailed drawings of the underlying skeleton and muscle, and trying to teach you the name and shape of each one. Good if you're trying to improve to that level of complexity, but a bit of an overwhelming starting point. I now plan on tracing pictures of people with simple shoulders-hips-arms-legs-heads breakdowns until I feel comfortable doing that by sight without tracing, and then adding more complexity after that.

Oh yeah mate, there are many teens like me doing art in my grade, and I've got a long way to go, but I dislike it when someone discredits themselves just because they have been hitting a learning block. These things are practiced deliberately, by looking into more art resources and trying to do what you lack, be it understanding of gesture, anatomy, expression, perspective, or whatever else. And, nothing is better than seeing your peers' drawings and noting what else you can improve upon, plus, you can make some nice friends that way.

You’re so right when you said people aren’t understanding parts of anatomy with how things are traditionally taught. I went to art school and my anatomy is pretty poor I think in the pelvis area. I also struggle with the chest and face. I’ve been doing more portrait sketches to get me to understand it and I understand the skull structure and basics of the spine and joints, but I really appreciate how you broke it down. My goal this year is to get better at human anatomy and be able to create my own characters without reference. I actually wanted to submit some sketches to you for a crit in this, but as I said they’ve mainly been portraits because I’m trying to understand the face a lot better and I’d rather share something that is fully body!

I've been having a lot of trouble with anatomy & poses mainly because I'm quite new to art but this really helped!

I'm so grateful to you for providing so much value fro free

I like how you describe and critique other artworks into your perspective it helps me do better with my own personal artworks!

why does bro soind like dora “can you find which body part has the most joints conneted to it“

I’ve been searching across the internet on how to improve my drawing skills on anatomy, and by far this is the best one. keep up the good work.👌👍

This is a beautiful line of thoughts - and it's true. In the end an interesting pose can make a 'better' drawing than perfect anatomical details. If the pose is cool, the rest is 'just' detail that only adds to it.

DUDE, thank you SO MUCH! I get sooo overwhelmed with any art-related videos, because they include so many complicated aspects. Your video made me so comfortable with the way you explained it, set it up and the simplicity of it all. I wasn't expecting to sit down and listen for 23 minutes, but I actually learnt something today. I'm definitely going back to this video for reference and reminder.

THIS is the type of video I've been looking for! The stickman structure in basic and intermediate forms has really helped me understand what the parts of the anatomy look like. Now I can start learning and creating my own little block guys with a more believability to their anatomy and structure. THANKS A TON!!!

I’ve been trying to learn anatomy for awhile now and this video helped so much!

Really helpful video! Goes to show that we can utilize (and simplify when practical) sciences like anatomy and psychology to better communicate messages in art.

Thanks for the help, love your advice!

the long awaited anatomy tutorial

I agree greatly with your advice, im still an amateur but channels like this have greatly inspired me to do more and even make tutorials bit by bit as i spend a ton of time focusing on specific things to become able to create the art i want

Great tutorial/vid! Proportions I think are most important for scale/anatomy, also applies to inorganic/robots and very much so for cars/vehicles/Mecha! Center of balance/weight when dealing with movement is instinctual in the viewer/audience and can very easily break the 4th wall/uncanny valley. I really appreciate your attention to muscle structure and the need for proper anatomy when conveying movement. Really appreciate you sharing your art and techniques.

I feel like things are starting to click in my brain while watching this. Can't quite grasp it if I'm just watching but maybe if I try to draw what you're teaching I'll come across a revelation hahaha. Thank you for this wonderful video!

Excellent video! Everyone always tells you to learn anatomy and it just overwhelmed the heck outta me not knowing what to study but no one ever said which parts to focus first.

the only thing better than an awesome tutorial is a cactus in an awesome tutorial, it i had a catus that close to my tabled id constantly touch it accidentally having a hand full of needles. so i cannot phase out because of the cactus anxiety XD

"Like a warm starburst that was left in the sun" had me reeling

I little story from my recent life. Past one-two months I’ve been travelling around the europe and didn’t have time to draw at all but there were a LOT of art museums I visited. And let me tell you, now that i finally have time to draw I can see progress. Sounds crazy? Imagine how crazy it looks and feels for me to be able to draw much more than i could after what should’ve made my skill worse. Observation IS one of the keys to become better. Obviously my progress would be even better if i was constantly drawing at least a couple sketches every day, but the fact that I didn’t is a really great example that observation is no less of a teacher than practice. It also doesn’t have to be real painting, we live in times when you can get any information from oldest times to the very moment and we should use it. It’s also very good to find an artist who’s art you like and observe their art, or even better to watch their process. And always remember, that of course they are better but just try to think how much time and effort they spent on it! They also must’ve been upset, unmotivated, burnt out, depressed even but they kept going and i believe you can, too! It should be your motivation. They are all humans just as you are, which means one day you can draw just like them!

I was waiting for this! Thanks so much man!🔥🔥🔥

Just found this after getting overwhelmed with a video about all the different muscles and bones - this video feels like such a lifesaver and has remotivated me to keep trying 🙏

Thanks for this Josh, I continue to struggle with anatomy so this was quite timely.

i love how you separate the torso between upper and lower torso! it helps me so much because all the other tutorials force me to make both of them together at the same time, and it confuses me how you connect the shoulder movements and the other parts. Thanks alot!!

i love how comprehensive this is! this has become one of my favorite tutorials ever. i usually see tutorials immediately starting with how to draw (still helpful) but you go over which areas are really important and why - and those are going to be so useful to keep in mind. thank you so much!! 🙏✨

this is very important because when I'm doing figure studies, I'm never sure where the problem lies. This video is doing a really good job in giving me a direction to follow and a place to start with/focus on. thank you.

I’m crying this is so smart I’ve been overwhelmed by the thought of anatomy which has set me back from starting for a year but I finally found my gateway thanks to you :,)

The most helpful guide I've seen yet.

You are a wizard, thank you. Oh my god. You are a saving grace for all aspiring artists, including those who do this for a bigger purpose. You knew EXACTLY how difficult it is for the inept beginners. Trust me, honeslty, you are GIFTED in teaching! You my friend are a LIFE SAVER! I always thought I was missing something. This video proved my intuition right! The fact you found various anatomical artworks, analyzed them, pointed out the right and wrong, and even drew over them as suggestions gives me drastic amounts of hope for my future projects. I'm motivated by you, how you made this video, it's idyllic.

This is GOLD!!! ✨✨✨ Saved to my art playlist !!!! Thank you sooo muchhh !!! ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks Mr. Josh, I was getting serious about my art journey recently and this video is helping ALOT. don't know what I'd do without you and samdoesarts.

It's funny because I was thinking something similar to this but I'm so overwhelmed with things like how to hold the pen, what angle the tablet should be, awkward lines, ext ext. Learning a specific area that's important just seems like a better idea because while I can practice pose or reference, it's basically just a stick figure without completely incorrect proportions and shapes. If I can understand the basics of how each part is drawn, it'll make putting them together so much easier. Right? Sounds good to me 👌

Oh hell yes the parts he mentioned are pretty important, and i cant get enough of studying those areas, its just complicated eventho seems simple

Always been looking into anatomy such as muscles(like the actual muscles that usually are red on diagrams) and the skeletons because it always looked cool as heck to me.

You really are one of the best art content creators on here, fantastic video.

I've always struggled with trying to do anything anatomy wise, to the point where I could only understand simple stick figures and joints. I wanted to try and give it another shot and found your video. And after you highlighted the parts that help signal the pose of the character I tried it out. I immediately saw the way the figure stood and the basic shape of rectangles and triangles really helped me picture the volume of the body easier than the first method I had tried! Thank you so much, I really feel my drawing took a step to grow today!

iTS FUN THAT YOUR HANDS AR SO EXPRESSIVE!

As always, your superb grasp of the big picture and how you simplify it for us is sooooo appreciated. Thank you for all you do! ❤

The quality of this video proves once again: be selective, but don't underestimate the value of RU-vid THANK YOU, ergojosh and YT!

As a game designer has to do quick, expressive prototype art for my own games before bringing seasoned artists on board- this is a great and helpful video, thank you!

Damn the voice!! Also really appreciate you getting directly to the point, keep up the good work man. :)

I had no plans to watch this whole video. Not only did I very much enjoy the way you teach, I subscribed. Thanks.

Man I’ve been trying to wrap my head around general anatomy off and on for a decade and this one 23 min video made it click better than all of that content I’ve consumed before lbs.

I've just found your channel and you've been an amazing help!!! Ive been drawing my entire life, but my skills have never really improved past a cetain point because i would only ever draw the same things. Now I'm at a place where I've found theres a lot of things I want to draw that I'm not really sure how to, and your videos have been an amazing help for this!! Thank you!!

i swear i got an epiphany in the end with the 2nd last example and i was like mind blown you’re so fricking amazing at explaining and keeping it proffessional while being chill. You earned a subscriber dude 👏👏👏

Hey brother. Just want to thank you for giving us aspiring artists alot of resources to help with our direction 🙏

this is amazing! thank you so much! i have an art friend who is a lot more experienced than i am that tried to teach me anatomy, but it was difficult because of the language barrier and also because he had problems breaking it down for a more beginner artist like me. ive been feeling really pooed and out of motivation to do much art lately, but this video has actually excited me! thank you so much!

Yesss Thank you for this so much

Yessss i so agree with drawing your hands in particular, theyre so amazing at helping making your art looks good

gonna try and sit down with this for a while and really absorb it. really appreciate your pinterest link in the description, been having trouble finding faces and poses to stick with

This is a fantastic video, you really helped me out here, for some reason I had never even considered breaking down the muscle structures into smaller segments rather than focusing on learning the whole body all at once

Omg you posted this at the right time 😭🙏 I have been trying to learn anatomy and proportions recently and this will help alot (it's been giving me art block so learning it will defo help ) :D

This video was the most helpful one on figure drawing and anatomy I’ve seen so far, I’m really grateful for it. Thanks a lot!

You Sir have been immensely helpful, I'm very much looking forward to implementing some of the things you talked about in this video. I want to thank you for making some things I've been struggling with easier to understand

You're not only amazing artist but also a teacher, I have watched many anatomy drawing tutorial and I understand less than this one video. Thank you so much

Thank you so much!! I've been working on my art for a few years now and have taken quite a few classes, but this is the first time I've actually understood this!! You did such an amazing job making it make sense!

love the "warm starburst" analogy!

I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS CHANNEL, KEEP THESE VIDEOS COMING!!!!!

Thank you so much! Im so glad I found this video I’ve been wanting to get back into anatomy and I found this video before others. This helped me so much and I will surely remember your tips!

hum. Some of this I've been trying to improve with my reference drawings but this is the best guide that concisely explains what's going on in the different poses. Thank you Sensei!

Thank god! I've been looking for a video for like this for ages, thank you! All essential information, presented clearly and relatably.

Thank you, so helpfully in tarting with posture drawing. Using drawings from viewers to add or change things really helps with adjusting my own drawings.

My problem with drawing is that I'm too impatient & I need to follow rules & guides. I can easily manipulate a story with my words, but with art? My goodness. You say, "Learn this." Okay. How do I learn this? How do I draw this if I don't know how to draw? I don't get how I can manipulate the body, the muscles, how I build my own poses and characters & draw from mind even when I have those poses in my imagination. I think I'm the typical "Giving up in frustration." I need clear instructions & I feel lost with art. Constant, "Now what? What do I do next?". Self-learning with art is extremely hard for me. :(

those 4 things are very important to learn first. I noticed you said noone really breaks it down but I've been studying the tutorials from David finch & Robert Marzullo. They really do break it down in a way the average person/artist can learn better and faster. Great video bro. Very useful!

!!! this is such a cool approach, thank you!! i've been meaning to start learning proper anatomy and didn't know where to start

Your videos have been helping refine my skills and even loosen up. I'm able to draw more freely and be more accepting of mistakes. Learning from you has inspired to further pursue my dream job. Thank you so so much

I am used to drawing like just drawing putting some lines pouring some color and done! this is an art I made. and don't understand the basics thing. now thanks for telling and sharing this knowledge with me I'll learn it and practice well.

Your presentation in this is excellent. You bring clarity , solid information and good pacing to the subject.

Great video! It was really nice to see the old illustration at the end. It's a great feeling that we get to keep learning and progressing as we get older and it's always something I look forward to on this art journey.

Thank you for making these videos for us to learn, bought a tablet and apple pencil a few months ago now and I've been learning so much. Thank you Ergojosh!

You have a very soothing voice and this video has been very informative, thank you.

This is the most comprehensive tutorial I've ever stumbled across! :D Thank you!

thanks for this video josh. Also your improvement is amazing.

Ty mate, I appreciate your help:)

I gotta say, I'm in love with that pen pencil brush.

Underrated channel

This video was so helpful I love your videos, you explain everything so well you clearly know and love what you do

Haven’t drawn in years due to anatomy being too complex and daunting. This video really intrigued me!

3:50 ergo josh the exploradora